Crossing Cultural Borders (1991) examines the day-to-day interaction of immigrant children with adults, siblings and peers in the home, school and community at large as these families demonstrate their skill in using their culture to survive in a new society. Children of Mexican and Central American immigrant families in Secoya crossed a national border, and continue to cross linguistic, social and cultural borders that separate the home, school and outside world.

Originally published in 1996. During the author's decade of critical ethnography in Carpinteria, California, she has illuminated the intricate relationships between Latino families as together they build a sociopolitical community to bridge family and school alliances. How they extend their learning from the social networks to the family arena and to the personal, and in reverse, represents their protean responses to the diversity and adversity in their lives. This life-story captures the collective and individual texts of the Latino children, their parents and educators used to empower themselves to transform discontinuity in an age where continuity is increasingly foreign.

A central theme in anthropoligical research is the socialization process. Yet, when applied to student life, the literature tends to neglect a frequent phenomena of student life: that students are uprooted from their home countries and resettled in culturally different areas. The contributors to "School and Society" provide a comparative assessment of how cultural knowledge relates to learning. Part I discusses qualitative research and national politics as they relate to cultural education. Part II explores American and Japanese day care centers, Peruvian schools, and the effects of Asian refugees on American schools. Part III examines peer socialization among Iranians, Israeli adolescents living on Kibbutzim, and other ethnic and cultural groups. In a final analysis, the editors attend to the very conception of culture and the need for cultural therapy: an understanding of one's own culture in order to study another's.

This volume presents the personal accounts of African American, Asian American, and Latino faculty who use 'narratives of struggles' to describe the challenges they faced in order to become bona fide members of the U.S. Academy. These narratives show how survival and success require a sophisticated knowledge of the politics of academia, insider knowledge of the requirements of legitimacy in scholarly efforts, and resourceful approach to facing dilemmas between cultural values, traditional racist practices, and academic resilience. The book also explores the empowerment process of these individuals who have created a new self without rejecting their 'enduring' self, the self strongly connected to their ethno/racial cultures and groups. Within the process of self -redefinition, this new faculty confronted racism, sexism, rejection, the clash of cultural values, and structural indifference to cultural diversity. The faculty recounts how they ultimately learned the skillful accommodation to all of these issues. It is through the analysis of survival and self-definition that women and faculty of color will establish a powerful foothold in the new academy of the twenty-first century.

"The ethnics are coming" -and the fear of many observers is that the quality of traditional disciplines will suffer as a result. Immigrant Voices: In Search of Pedagogical Reform is a new book which shows that such fear is unfounded. Ethnic scholars of international repute come together in this new collection of essays to meditate upon the single most important social phenomena in America today: Immigration. Due to the ever increasing ethnic diversity in today's school populations, the need to explore this issue has become more critical than ever. Giving voice to a broad range of complex experiences, contributors from China, Taiwan, Mexico, Argentina, Spain, and Slovakia provide insight into the numerous obstacles immigrants must overcome in order to succeed in both the academy and society at large. Offering broad theoretical perspectives, as well as powerful and unforgettable personal narratives, this book serves as a invaluable resource for continued efforts toward educational equity.

Originally published in 1996. During the author's decade of critical ethnography in Carpinteria, California, she has illuminated the intricate relationships between Latino families as together they build a sociopolitical community to bridge family and school alliances. How they extend their learning from the social networks to the family arena and to the personal, and in reverse, represents their protean responses to the diversity and adversity in their lives. This life-story captures the collective and individual texts of the Latino children, their parents and educators used to empower themselves to transform discontinuity in an age where continuity is increasingly foreign.

This book covers five major areas: 1) Latino families and their educational aspirations for their children, 2) the communication systems needed between schools and Latino families, 3) techniques to foster Latino parent involvement, 4) how Latino families assist their children at home, and 5) how to organize parent involvement programmes. This will be a practical book full of techniques, strategies, examples of programmes that have worked, and teachers' and parents' voices and experiences.

Children's success in literacy is largely dependent on the active and systematic communications between parents and teachers. In this study the essence of literacy is observed in the Portillo Community when working class Mexican-American parents empowered each other by sharing their experiences to help their children in school. Utilizing their ability to read and interpret their reality the families collectively organized to transform their children's educational opportunities.

Teachers are dealing with increasingly diverse classroom settings, yet the majority of teachers do not share the same culture as their students. Going beyond they typical heroes and holidays approach to cultural diversity, Gaitan shows that real culture is the day-to-day experience of students and their families and involves values, language, kinship, community and social networks, common history, attitudes, and rituals. By honoring "real culture," teachers will be better equipped to reach all their students effectively. Divided into two parts, this invaluable resource covers the classroom environment and the topics of discipline, arranging the classroom, and parent and community involvement first. In the second half of the book, Gaitan explains how teachers can be culturally responsive in the way in which they teach literacy, math, science, the interdisciplinary curriculum, and other content areas. Based on Gaitan's own interviews, observations, and audio & video recordings with teachers, parents, students, and community leaders, this book shows how teachers can transform the context and content to be culturally responsive to all their students. Each chapter follows a accessible and user-friendly format, making it ideal for mentoring pairs, group study, or teachers working individually: Personal reflection from a teacher related to the chapter topic Discussion of the topic as it relates to the culturally responsive classroom, incorporating the latest research and best practice Rich case example including dialogues between teachers and students, the author's observations, and teacher reflections about what occurred Guiding questions Reflective Questions Classroom applications

The mission statement of the Common Core State Standards couldn't be any clearer inadescribing expectations forathe education ofaour nation's youth.The standards are designed to be robust and relevant to the real world, reflecting the knowledge and skills that our young people need for success in college and careers. With American students fully prepared for the future, our communities will be best positioned to compete successfully in the global economy.In the 21st century, a high school diploma without further education provides limited options for young adults: high school graduates currently have an unemployment rate of 32% -- approximately twice that of college graduates.a According to research conducted by the Pew Hispanic Center, despite recent increases inacollege attendancearatesafor Latino students (in 2010, approximately 32% of total college enrollmentsain two and four schools), their numbers are low in comparison to Whites (43%), Asians (62%), and Blacks (38%).a Not surprisingly,athe rates are muchalower forachildren born into households in which parents or guardians weren't college-educated.a When we take into consideration the fact that Latinos are the fastest-growingademographic in the U.S., the implications foraglobal competitiveness (not to mention the human toll of so much unrealized promise) are quite alarming.The proposed book provides teachers and educational leaders with a guide toacreating conditions in schools that are conducive to Latino students having access to higher education and --aby extension -- promising futures.a The author bases her recommendations on lessons learned fromasuccessful college bound programs in public schools, the non-profit sector, and recognized charter schools, as well asaa substantial body of quality research on Latino students and their families.aThe heart of the book builds on the premise that effective academic and social support practices intertwine with increased expectations, successfully leading underrepresented Latino students to college. Social capital builds the value, connectedness, and motivation of cultural, emotional, informational and instrumental networks that undergird studentsAE readiness and aptitude to pursue a path to college.aa

Teachers are dealing with increasingly diverse classroom settings, yet the majority of teachers do not share the same culture as their students. Going beyond they typical heroes and holidays approach to cultural diversity, Gaitan shows that real culture is the day-to-day experience of students and their families and involves values, language, kinship, community and social networks, common history, attitudes, and rituals. By honoring "real culture," teachers will be better equipped to reach all their students effectively. Divided into two parts, this invaluable resource covers the classroom environment and the topics of discipline, arranging the classroom, and parent and community involvement first. In the second half of the book, Gaitan explains how teachers can be culturally responsive in the way in which they teach literacy, math, science, the interdisciplinary curriculum, and other content areas. Based on Gaitan's own interviews, observations, and audio & video recordings with teachers, parents, students, and community leaders, this book shows how teachers can transform the context and content to be culturally responsive to all their students. Each chapter follows a accessible and user-friendly format, making it ideal for mentoring pairs, group study, or teachers working individually: Personal reflection from a teacher related to the chapter topic Discussion of the topic as it relates to the culturally responsive classroom, incorporating the latest research and best practice Rich case example including dialogues between teachers and students, the author's observations, and teacher reflections about what occurred Guiding questions Reflective Questions Classroom applications

This book covers five major areas: 1) Latino families and their educational aspirations for their children, 2) the communication systems needed between schools and Latino families, 3) techniques to foster Latino parent involvement, 4) how Latino families assist their children at home, and 5) how to organize parent involvement programmes. This will be a practical book full of techniques, strategies, examples of programmes that have worked, and teachers' and parents' voices and experiences.

Fifteen years ago, Concha Delgado-Gaitan began literacy research in Carpinteria, California. At that time, Mexican immigrants who labored in nurseries, factories, and housekeeping, had almost no voice in how their children were educated. Committed to participative research, Delgado-Gaitan collaborated with the community to connect family, school, and community. Regular community gatherings gave birth to the Comite de Padres Latinos. Refusing the role of the victim, the Comite paticipants organized to reach out to everyone in the community, not just other Latino families. Bound by their language, cultural history, hard work, respect, pain, and hope, they created possibilities that supported the learning of Latino students, who until then had too often dropped out or shown scant interest in school. In a society that accentuates individualism and independence, these men and women look to their community for leadership, support, and resources for children. The Power of Community is a critical work that shows how communities that pull together and offer caring ears, eyes, and hands, can ensure that their children thrive academically, socially, and personally. It offers a fresh approach and workable solution to the problems that face schools today.